Osloskolen bryter loven nÃ¥r de sender politihunder inn i klasserom med elever

10th March 2013

Om noen Ã¥r skal mine barn antagelig begynne pÃ¥ skolen i Oslo. Der -skal de blant annet lÃ¦re seg Ã¥ verdsette og hÃ¥ndheve sine egne grenser -og beskytte sin personlige integritet og privatsfÃ¦re. Det blir ikke -enkelt nÃ¥r ledelsen i Osloskolen med vitende og vilje legger opp til Ã¥ -krenke elevenes privatsfÃ¦re ved Ã¥ la politiet ransake elevene med -narkohund i klasserommet. Jon Wessel-Aas har publisert noen -interessante kommentarer om hvorfor dette er ulovlig. +

How to fix a Thinkpad X230 with a broken 180 GB SSD disk

17th July 2013

Today I switched to +my +new laptop. I've previously written about the problems I had with +my new Thinkpad X230, which was delivered with an +180 +GB Intel SSD disk with Lenovo firmware that did not handle +sustained writes. My hardware supplier have been very forthcoming in +trying to find a solution, and after first trying with another +identical 180 GB disks they decided to send me a 256 GB Samsung SSD +disk instead to fix it once and for all. The Samsung disk survived +the installation of Debian with encrypted disks (filling the disk with +random data during installation killed the first two), and I thus +decided to trust it with my data. I have installed it as a Debian Edu +Wheezy roaming workstation hooked up with my Debian Edu Squeeze main +server at home using Kerberos and LDAP, and will use it as my work +station from now on.

+ +

As this is a solid state disk with no moving parts, I believe the +Debian Wheezy default installation need to be tuned a bit to increase +performance and increase life time of the disk. The Linux kernel and +user space applications do not yet adjust automatically to such +environment. To make it easier for my self, I created a draft Debian +package ssd-setup to handle this tuning. The +source +for the ssd-setup package is available from collab-maint, and it +is set up to adjust the setup of the machine by just installing the +package. If there is any non-SSD disk in the machine, the package +will refuse to install, as I did not try to write any logic to sort +file systems in SSD and non-SSD file systems.

+ +

I consider the package a draft, as I am a bit unsure how to best +set up Debian Wheezy with an SSD. It is adjusted to my use case, +where I set up the machine with one large encrypted partition (in +addition to /boot), put LVM on top of this and set up partitions on +top of this again. See the README file in the package source for the +references I used to pick the settings. At the moment these +parameters are tuned:

Bruk av narkohund i - klasserom â fra vondt til verre (2013-03-09)
Set up cryptsetup to pass TRIM commands to the physical disk + (adding discard to /etc/crypttab)
Set up LVM to pass on TRIM commands to the underlying device (in + this case a cryptsetup partition) by changing issue_discards from + 0 to 1 in /etc/lvm/lvm.conf.
Set relatime as a file system option for ext3 and ext4 file + systems.
Tell swap to use TRIM commands by adding 'discard' to + /etc/fstab.
Ulovlig og - menneskerettsstridig bruk av narkohund i klasserom - (2012-03-12)
Change I/O scheduler from cfq to deadline using a udev rule.
Run fstrim on every ext3 and ext4 file system every night (from + cron.daily).
Adjust sysctl values vm.swappiness to 1 and vm.vfs_cache_pressure + to 50 to reduce the kernel eagerness to swap out processes.

Jeg er veldig glad for at han bidrar med argumenter og forklaringer -vi foreldre kan ta med oss nÃ¥r vi skal protestere pÃ¥ og fÃ¥ en slutt pÃ¥ -denne forkastelige praksisen. Narkotikaproblemet mÃ¥ adresseres pÃ¥ -andre mÃ¥ter som ikke krenker barn og ungdoms integritet. Jeg Ã¸nsker -ikke at mine barn skal lÃ¦res opp til Ã¥ akseptere radering av -privatlivets fred, men heller at de skal lÃ¦res opp til Ã¥ sloss imot -den innfÃ¸ringen av stadig mer totalitÃ¦r overvÃ¥kning som har pÃ¥gÃ¥tt -over mange Ã¥r i Norge.

During installation, I cancelled the part where the installer fill +the disk with random data, as this would kill the SSD performance for +little gain. My goal with the encrypted file system is to ensure +those stealing my laptop end up with a brick and not a working +computer. I have no hope in keeping the really resourceful people +from getting the data on the disk (see +XKCD #538 for an explanation why). +Thus I concluded that adding the discard option to crypttab is the +right thing to do.

+ +

I considered using the noop I/O scheduler, as several recommended +it for SSD, but others recommended deadline and a benchmark I found +indicated that deadline might be better for interactive use.

+ +

I also considered using the 'discard' file system option for ext3 +and ext4, but read that it would give a performance hit ever time a +file is removed, and thought it best to that that slowdown once a day +instead of during my work.

+ +

My package do not set up tmpfs on /var/run, /var/lock and /tmp, as +this is already done by Debian Edu.

+ +

I have not yet started on the user space tuning. I expect +iceweasel need some tuning, and perhaps other applications too, but +have not yet had time to investigate those parts.

+ +

The package should work on Ubuntu too, but I have not yet tested it +there.

+ +

As for the answer to the question in the title of this blog post, +as far as I know, the only solution I know about is to replace the +disk. It might be possible to flash it with Intel firmware instead of +the Lenovo firmware. But I have not tried and did not want to do so +without approval from Lenovo as I wanted to keep the warranty on the +disk until a solution was found and they wanted the broken disks +back.

- Tags: norsk, personvern. + Tags: debian, english.

@@ -228,102 +133,54 @@ over mange Ã¥r i Norge.

First Skolelinux / Debian Edu Squeeze update released

8th March 2013

Last Sunday, 2013-03-03,, Holger Levsen announced the first update -of Skolelinux / Debian Edu -based on Debian Squeeze. This is the first update since -the -initial release 2012-03-11. This is the -release -announcement email from Holger:

- -

Hi,
- -
it's my pleasure to announce the immediate availability of Debian -Edu 6.0.7+r1 ("Debian Edu Squeeze").
- -
Debian Edu 6.0.7+r1 is an incremental update to Debian Edu -6.0.4+r0, containing all the changes between Debian 6.0.4 and 6.0.7 as -well Debian Edu specific bugfixes and enhancements. See below (in this -mail) for the full list of (edu) changes. Please see -http://www.debian.org/News/2012/20120311 -for more information on "Debian Edu Squeeze".
- -
Images are available for download at -http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/
- -
md5sums: -
1fe79eb4f0f9ae1c58fc318e26cc1e2e debian-edu-6.0.7+r1-CD.iso -
a6ddd924a8bd9a1b5ca122e8fe1c34ec debian-edu-6.0.7+r1-DVD.iso -
ac6c72cd7925ccec51bfbf58e2a7c69c debian-edu-6.0.7+r1-source-DVD.iso
- -
sha1sums: -
a4b58233b672a99c7df8dc24fb6de3327654a5c3 debian-edu-6.0.7+r1-CD.iso -
9b524915e0ff2aa793f13d93123e5bd2bab2dbaa debian-edu-6.0.7+r1-DVD.iso -
43997614893fc5e9e59ad6ce066b05d07fd836fa debian-edu-6.0.7+r1-source-DVD.iso
- -
These images are suitable for amd64+i386.
- -
Changes for Debian Edu 6.0.7+r1 Codename "Squeeze", released -2013-03-03:
- -
-
sitesummary was updated from 0.1.3 to 0.1.8 -
-
Make Nagios configuration more robust and efficient
-
Comply with 3.X kernel
-
-
debian-edu-doc from 1.4~20120310~6.0.4+r0 to 1.4~20130228~6.0.7+r1 -
-
Minor updates from the wiki
-
Danish translation now complete
-
-
debian-edu-config from 1.453 to 1.455 -
-
Fix /etc/hosts for LTSP diskless workstations. Closes: #699880
-
Make ltsp_local_mount script work for multiple devices.
-
Correct Kerberos user policy: don't expire password after 2 days. - Closes: #664596
-
Handle '#' characters in the root or first users password. - Closes: #664976
-
Fixes for gosa-sync: -
-
Don't fail if password contains "
-
Don't disclose new password string in syslog
-
-
Fixes for gosa-create: -
-
Invalidate libnss cache before applying changes
-
Multiple failures during mass user import into GOsaÂ²
-
gosa-netgroups plugin: don't erase entries of attribute type - "memberNisNetgroup". Closes: #687256
-
First user now uses the same Kerberos policy as all other users
-
-
Add Danish web page
-
-
debian-edu-install from 1.528 to 1.530 -
-
Improve preseeding support and documentation
-
-
- -
End-user documentation in English is available at -http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Squeeze/ -- translations to French, Italian, Danish and German are available in -the debian-edu-doc package. (Other languages could use your help!)
- -
If you want to contribute to Debian Edu, please join our -mailinglist -debian-edu@lists.debian.org! -

- -

I am very happy to see the fruits of a year of hard work. :)

Intel SSD 520 Series 180 GB with Lenovo firmware still lock up from sustained writes

10th July 2013

A few days ago, I wrote about +the +problems I experienced with my new X230 and its SSD disk, which +was dying during installation because it is unable to cope with +sustained write. My supplier is in contact with +Lenovo, and they wanted to send a +replacement disk to try to fix the problem. They decided to send an +identical model, so my hopes for a permanent fix was slim.

+ +

Anyway, today I got the replacement disk and tried to install +Debian Edu Wheezy with encrypted disk on it. The new disk have the +same firmware version as the original. This time my hope raised +slightly as the installation progressed, as the original disk used to +die after 4-7% of the disk was written to, while this time it kept +going past 10%, 20%, 40% and even past 50%. But around 60%, the disk +died again and I was back on square one. I still do not have a new +laptop with a disk I can trust. I can not live with a disk that might +lock up when I download a new +Debian Edu / Skolelinux ISO or +other large files. I look forward to hearing from my supplier with +the next proposal from Lenovo.

+ +

The original disk is marked Intel SSD 520 Series 180 GB, +11S0C38722Z1ZNME35X1TR, ISN: CVCV321407HB180EGN, SA: G57560302, FW: +LF1i, 29MAY2013, PBA: G39779-300, LBA 351,651,888, LI P/N: 0C38722, +Pb-free 2LI, LC P/N: 16-200366, WWN: 55CD2E40002756C4, Model: +SSDSC2BW180A3L 2.5" 6Gb/s SATA SSD 180G 5V 1A, ASM P/N 0C38732, FRU +P/N 45N8295, P0C38732.

+ +

The replacement disk is marked Intel SSD 520 Series 180 GB, +11S0C38722Z1ZNDE34N0L0, ISN: CVCV315306RK180EGN, SA: G57560-302, FW: +LF1i, 22APR2013, PBA: G39779-300, LBA 351,651,888, LI P/N: 0C38722, +Pb-free 2LI, LC P/N: 16-200366, WWN: 55CD2E40000AB69E, Model: +SSDSC2BW180A3L 2.5" 6Gb/s SATA SSD 180G 5V 1A, ASM P/N 0C38732, FRU +P/N 45N8295, P0C38732.

+ +

The only difference is in the first number (serial number?), ISN, +SA, date and WNPP values. Mentioning all the details here in case +someone is able to use the information to find a way to identify the +failing disk among working ones (if any such working disk actually +exist).

- Tags: debian edu, english. + Tags: debian, english.

@@ -331,58 +188,26 @@ mailinglist

Frikanalen - Complete TV station organised using the web

3rd March 2013

Do you want to set up your own TV station, schedule videos and -broadcast them on the air? Using free software? With video on demand -support using -free and -open standards? Included a web based video stream as well? And -administrate it all in your web browser from anywhere in the world? A -few years now the Norwegian public access TV-channel -Frikanalen have been building a -system to do just this. The source code for the solution is licensed -using the GNU LGPL, and -available from github.

- -

The idea is simple. You upload a video file over the web, and -attach meta information to the file. You select a time slot in the -program schedule, and when the time come it is played on the air and -in the web stream. It is also made available in a video on demand -solution for anyone to see it also outside its scheduled time. All -you need to run a TV station - using your web browser.

- -

There are several parts to this web based solution. I'll mention -the three most important ones. The first part is the database of -videos and the schedule. This is written in Django and include a REST -API. The current database is SQLite, but the plan is to migrate it to -PostgreSQL. At the moment this system can be tested on -beta.frikanalen.tv. The -second part is the video playout, taking the schedule information from -the database and providing a video stream to broadcast. This is done -using CasparCG from SVT and -Media Lovin' Toolkit. Video -signal distribution is handled using -Open Broadcast Encoder. The -third part is the converter, handling the transformation of uploaded -video files to a format useful for broadcasting, streaming and video -on demand. It is still very much work in progress, so it is not yet -decided what it will end up using. Note that the source of the latter -two parts are not yet pushed to github. The lead author want to clean -them up a bit more first.

- -

The development is coordinated on the -#frikanalen IRC -channel (irc.freenode.net), and discussed on -the -frikanalen mailing list. The lead developer is Benjamin Bruheim -(phed on IRC). Anyone is welcome to participate in the -development.

July 13th: Debian/Ubuntu BSP and Skolelinux/Debian Edu developer gathering in Oslo

9th July 2013

The upcoming Saturday, 2013-07-13, we are organising a combined +Debian Edu developer gathering and Debian and Ubuntu bug squashing +party in Oslo. It is organised by the +member assosiation NUUG and +the Debian Edu / Skolelinux +project together with the hack space +Bitraf.

+ +

It starts 10:00 and continue until late evening. Everyone is +welcome, and there is no fee to participate. There is on the other +hand limited space, and only room for 30 people. Please put your name +on the event +wiki page if you plan to join us.

- Tags: english, frikanalen, nuug, video. + Tags: debian, debian edu, english, nuug.

@@ -390,35 +215,79 @@ development.

Dr. Richard Stallman, founder of Free Software Foundation, give a talk in Oslo March 1st 2013

27th February 2013

Dr. Richard Stallman, -founder of Free Software Foundation, -is giving a -talk in Oslo March 1st 2013 17:00 to 19:00. The event is public -and organised by Norwegian Unix Users Group (NUUG) -(where I am the chair of the board) and -The Norwegian Open Source Competence -Center. The title of the talk is Â«The Free Software Movement and -GNUÂ», with this description: - -

-The Free Software Movement campaigns for computer users' freedom to -cooperate and control their own computing. The Free Software Movement -developed the GNU operating system, typically used together with the -kernel Linux, specifically to make these freedoms possible. -

- -

The meeting is open for everyone. Due to space limitations, the -doors opens for NUUG members at 16:15, and everyone else at 16:45. I -am really curious how many will show up. See -the event -page for the location details.

The Thinkpad is dead, long live the Thinkpad X230?

5th July 2013

Half a year ago, I reported that I had to find a +replacement +for my trusty old Thinkpad X41. Unfortunately I did not have much +time to spend on it, and it took a while to find a model I believe +will do the job, but two days ago the replacement finally arrived. I +ended up picking a +Thinkpad X230 +with SSD disk (NZDAJMN). I first test installed Debian Edu Wheezy as +a roaming workstation, and it seemed to work flawlessly. But my +second installation with encrypted disk was not as successful. More +on that below.

+ +

I had a hard time trying to track down a good laptop, as my most +important requirements (robust and with a good keyboard) are never +listed in the feature list. But I did get good help from the search +feature at Prisjakt, which +allowed me to limit the list of interesting laptops based on my other +requirements. A bit surprising that SSD disk are not disks according +to that search interface, so I had to drop specifying the number of +disks from my search parameters. I also asked around among friends to +get their impression on keyboards and robustness.

+ +

So the new laptop arrived, and it is quite a lot wider than the +X41. I am not quite convinced about the keyboard, as it is +significantly wider than my old keyboard, and I have to stretch my +hand a lot more to reach the edges. But the key response is fairly +good and the individual key shape is fairly easy to handle, so I hope +I will get used to it. My old X40 was starting to fail, and I really +needed a new laptop now. :)

+ +

Turning off the touch pad was simple. All it took was a quick +visit to the BIOS during boot it disable it.

+ +

But there is a fatal problem with the laptop. The 180 GB SSD disk +lock up during load. And this happen when installing Debian Wheezy +with encrypted disk, while the disk is being filled with random data. +I also tested to install Ubuntu Raring, and it happen there too if I +reenable the code to fill the disk with random data (it is disabled by +default in Ubuntu). And the bug with is already known. It was +reported to Debian as BTS +report #691427 2012-10-25 (journal commit I/O error on brand-new +Thinkpad T430s ext4 on lvm on SSD). It is also reported to the Linux +kernel developers as +Kernel bugzilla +report #51861 2012-12-20 (Intel SSD 520 stops working under load +(SSDSC2BW180A3L in Lenovo ThinkPad T430s)). It is also reported on the +Lenovo forums, both for +T430 +2012-11-10 and for +X230 +03-20-2013. The problem do not only affect installation. The +reports state that the disk lock up during use if many writes are done +on the disk, so it is much no use to work around the installation +problem and end up with a computer that can lock up at any moment. +There is even a +small C program +available that will lock up the hard drive after running a few +minutes by writing to a file.

+ +

I've contacted my supplier and asked how to handle this, and after +contacting PCHELP Norway (request 01D1FDP) which handle support +requests for Lenovo, his first suggestion was to upgrade the disk +firmware. Unfortunately there is no newer firmware available from +Lenovo, as my disk already have the most recent one (version LF1i). I +hope to hear more from him today and hope the problem can be +fixed. :)

- Tags: english, opphavsrett, personvern, sikkerhet, surveillance. + Tags: debian, english.

@@ -426,91 +295,39 @@ page for the location details.

Skolelinux-intervju: Helge Tore HÃ¸yland

22nd February 2013

Etter en lang pause og travle uker har jeg endelig klart Ã¥ fÃ¥ -samlet et nytt intervju med en av folkene i -Skolelinux-miljÃ¸et. -Denne gang er det Helge Tore HÃ¸yland, en mangeÃ¥rig bidragsyter pÃ¥ -epostlistene og ellers i prosjektet.

- -

Hvem er du, og hva driver du med til daglig?

- -

Eg er IT-konsulent/teknikker hjÃ¥ eit firma i Steinkjer med navn -Uno IT. Uno IT er eit lite firma som -drifter nettverk og maskiner for smÃ¥ og mellomstore firma -Steinkjer-omrÃ¥det. Per dags dato er me 2 ansatte. Min faglege bakgrunn -er Fagbrev som it-teknikker, samt nokre fag innen nettverk- og -server-drift frÃ¥ HiST og NTNU. Dagleg arbeid bestÃ¥r i oppsett av nye -maskiner og hjelp til sluttbrukere, samt oppsett og vedlikehold av eit -vidt spekter av fagsystemer ute hjÃ¥ kunder. Erfaring med Skolelinux -har eg hatt i forbindelse med drifting av -BjÃ¸rkly skule, ein privat -grunnskule i Namsos-omrÃ¥det. I dag har skulen 65 elever, 15 lÃ¦rere, 1 -hovedserver og ca 60 klienter som kjÃ¸rer halvtjukt. Eg har bygd og -driftet systemet sidan summaren 2006.

- -

Hvordan kom du i kontakt med Skolelinux-prosjektet?

- -

Eg kom i kontakt med Skolelinux-prosjektet via ein artikkel i eit -fagblad, som eg ikkje lenger hugsar namnet pÃ¥. I og med at eg allereie -hadde pusla med nettverk for ein annan skule, fatta eg straks -interesse for prosjektet.

- -

Hva er fordelene med Skolelinux slik du ser det?

- -

Fordelane med Skolelinux er sentralisert administrasjon og svÃ¦rt -mange gode verktÃ¸y Â«ut av boksenÂ». Veldig kjekt Ã¥ kunne drifte 60 -klientar med berre Ã¥ Â«bryÂ» seg med ein server. Levetid for systemets -hardware er og ein veldig fin effekt. I tillegg kjem fordelar som Ã¸kt -sikkerhet og mindre lisenskostnader. Etter min erfaring er det og -mykje mindre driftskostnader med eit slikt system enn konkurrerande -system, pga enkelhet med sentralisert administrasjon. PÃ¥ grunn av at -Skolelinux er basert pÃ¥ Debian er det Ã²g svÃ¦rt stabilt.

- -

Hva er ulempene med Skolelinux slik du ser det?

- -

Ulemper er mangel pÃ¥ vilje til Ã¥ fÃ¸lge standarer ute i markedet, -som fÃ¸rer til mangel pÃ¥ stÃ¸tte til nokre mykje brukte ting. Flash og -Java er typiske eksempel. Sidan Debian satsar pÃ¥ stabilitet framfor Ã¥ -ha nyeste pakke av eit program, kan ein i nokre tilfeller kome borti -at program vert Â«for gamleÂ». Det er spesielt nettlesaren som er -utsett. Mangel pÃ¥ vilje til Ã¥ utvikle pedagogisk programvare, i Noreg, -for Â«alleÂ» platformer fÃ¸rer Ã²g til noko hovudbry.

- -

Hvilken fri programvare bruker du til daglig?

- -

Til dagleg bruker eg svÃ¦rt mange forskjellige Â«fri programvareÂ» -program. Firefox, Thunderbird, Freecommander, ImgBurn, Clonezilla, -OCS inventory, Icinga, Skolelinux, SystemRescueCD og mykje meir.

- -

Hvilken strategi tror du er den rette Ã¥ bruke for Ã¥ fÃ¥ -skoler til Ã¥ ta i bruk fri programvare?

- -

Strategisk mÃ¥ ein fokusere pÃ¥ at sluttbruker eigentleg ikkje er sÃ¥ -fokusert pÃ¥ at det er fri programvare men at det skal Â«berre fungereÂ». -Gjer det enkelt Ã¥ bruker og ikkje minst Ã¥ administrere. For Skolelinux -sin del mÃ¥ ein fÃ¥ eit betre fokus pÃ¥ overganger. Utbytting av servere -mÃ¥ gÃ¥ meir automatisk, import og eksport av brukerbase og maskinbase -med meir mÃ¥ kunne gÃ¥ enkelt og oppgradering til neste versjon mÃ¥ bli -mykje meir automatisk og gjennomtesta. Ein mÃ¥ unngÃ¥ at ein mÃ¥ sette -opp frÃ¥ start nÃ¥r ein byter ut ein server eller oppgraderer til neste -versjon. For Ã¥ fÃ¥ Skolelinux til Ã¥ bli eit betre alternativ for skular -mÃ¥ ein ha fokus pÃ¥ nettlesaren. Denne mÃ¥ bli Â«up to dateÂ» og stÃ¸tte -dei protokollar og tillegg som vert brukt av forlag med meir. Etter -kvart som meir og meir blir flytta ut i Â«skyaÂ» vert dette viktigare og -viktigare. Ein kunne ynskje og jobbe for at forlag med fleire tar i -bruk opne standarer, men inntil det skjer, mÃ¥ systemet kunne brukast -mot desse fagsystema.

- -

For meg har prosjektet med Skolelinux vore ein svÃ¦rt artig og -lÃ¦rerik prosess. MiljÃ¸et rundt er ikkje enormt stort, dog stort nok, -men det er svÃ¦rt hjelpevillig og engasjert.

The Thinkpad is dead, long live the Thinkpad X230

4th July 2013

Half a year ago, I reported that I had to find a replacement for my +trusty old Thinkpad X41. Unfortunately I did not have much time to +spend on it, but today the replacement finally arrived. I ended up +picking a Thinkpad +X230 with SSD disk (NZDAJMN). I first test installed Debian Edu +Wheezy as a roaming workstation, and it worked flawlessly. As I write +this, it is installing what I hope will be a more final installation, +with a encrypted hard drive to ensure any dope head stealing it end up +with an expencive door stop.

+ +

I had a hard time trying to track down a good laptop, as my most +important requirements (robust and with a good keyboard) are never +listed in the feature list. But I did get good help from the search +feature at Prisjakt, which +allowed me to limit the list of interesting laptops based on my other +requirements. A bit surprising that SSD disk are not disks, so I had +to drop number of disks from my search parameters.

+ +

I am not quite convinced about the keyboard, as it is significantly +wider than my old keyboard, and I have to stretch my hand a lot more +to reach the edges. But the key response is fairly good and the +individual key shape is fairly easy to handle, so I hope I will get +used to it. My old X40 was starting to fail, and I really needed a +new laptop now. :)

+ +

I look forward to figuring out how to turn off the touch pad.

- Tags: debian edu, intervju, norsk. + Tags: debian, english.

@@ -518,27 +335,115 @@ men det er svÃ¦rt hjelpevillig og engasjert.

Frikart - Free Garmin maps for European countries based on OpenStreetmap

15th February 2013

If you, like me, want an updated a map for your Garmin GPS, there is -now a great source of free maps available from -Frikart. To -download a map, just click on the country you are interested in, and -download the map type you want. There are 8 different maps available, -using different colours and data selection. Pick one of Roadmap, Topo -Summer, Topo Winter, Roadmap II, Topo Summer II, Topo Winter II, -"Trails - overlay map" and "Cross country - overlay map" (see the web -page for descriptions).

- -

The maps are updated weekly, so if you find something wrong in the -map you can just edit the -OpenStreetmap map source -(anyone can contribute) and fetch a fixed map a week later. :)

Fourth alpha release of Debian Edu/Skolelinux based on Debian Wheezy

3rd July 2013

The fourth wheezy based alpha release of Debian Edu was wrapped up +today. This is the release announcement:

+ +

New features for Debian Edu 7.1+edu0~alpha3 released +2013-07-03

+ +

These are the release notes for for Debian Edu / Skolelinux +7.1+edu0~alpha3, based on Debian with codename "Wheezy".

+ +

About Debian Edu and Skolelinux

+ +

Debian Edu, also known as +Skolelinux, is a Linux distribution based on Debian providing an +out-of-the box environment of a completely configured school +network. Immediately after installation a school server running all +services needed for a school network is set up just waiting for users +and machines being added via GOsaÂ², a comfortable Web-UI. A netbooting +environment is prepared using PXE, so after initial installation of +the main server from CD, DVD or USB stick all other machines can be +installed via the network. The provided school server provides LDAP +database and Kerberos authentication service, centralized home +directories, DHCP server, web proxy and many other services. The +desktop contains +more +than 60 educational software packages and more are available from +the Debian archive, and schools can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE +and Xfce desktop environment.

+ +

This is the fourth test release based on Debian Wheezy. Basically +this is an updated and slightly improved version compared to the +Squeeze release.

+ +

Software updates

Dropped ispell dictionaries from our default installation.
Dropped menu-xdg from the KDE desktop option, to drop the Debian + submenu. It was not included with Gnome, LXDE or Xfce, so this + brings KDE in line with the others.
Dropped xdrawchem, xjig and xsok from our default installation as + they don't have a desktop menu entry and thus won't show up in the + menu now that menu-xdg was removed.
Removed the killer system to kill left behind processes on + multi-user machines, as it was no longer able to understand when a + X display was in use and killed the processes of the active users + too.
Dropped the golearn (from goplay) package as the debtags in wheezy + are too few to make the package useful.

Other changes

Updated artwork matching http://wiki.debian.org/DebianArt/Themes/Joy +
Multi-arch i386/amd64 USB stick ISO available.
Got rid of ispell/wordlist related debconf questions that showed + up for some language options.
Switched to using http.debian.net as APT source by default.
Fixed proxy configuration on Main Server installations.
Changed LTSP setup to ask dpkg to use force-unsafe-io the same way + d-i is doing it.
Made sure root and user passwords were not left behind in the + debconf database after installation on Main Server installations.
Made Roaming Workstation dynamic setup more robust and added draft + script setup-ad-client to hook a Roaming Workstation up to a + Active Directory server instead of a Debian Edu Main Server.
Update system to install needed firmware packages during + installation, to work properly in Wheezy.
Update system to handle hardware quirks (debian-edu-hwsetup).
Corrected PXE installation setup to properly pass selected desktop + and keymap settings to PXE installation clients.
LTSP diskless workstations use sshfs by default, allowing them to + work without adding them to DNS and NIS netgroups for NFS access.

Known issues

No mass import of user account data in GOsa (ldif or csv) + available yet (698840).
Artwork not enabled for all desktops.

Where to get it

+ +

To download the multiarch netinstall CD release you can use

ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-CD.iso
http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-CD.iso
rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-CD.iso .

+ +

The MD5SUM of this image is: 2b161a99d2a848c376d8d04e3854e30c +
The SHA1SUM of this image is: 498922e9c508c0a7ee9dbe1dfe5bf830d779c3c8

+ +

To download the multiarch USB stick ISO release you can use

ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-USB.iso
http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-USB.iso
rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/wheezy/debian-edu-7.1+edu0~a3-USB.iso .

+ +

The MD5SUM of this image is: 25e808e403a4c15dbef1d13c37d572ac +
The SHA1SUM of this image is: 15ecfc93eb6b4f453b7eb0bc04b6a279262d9721

+ +

How to report bugs

+ +

http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs

- Tags: english, kart. + Tags: debian edu, english.

@@ -546,90 +451,121 @@ map you can just edit the

"Electronic" paper invoices - using vCard in a QR code

12th February 2013

Here in Norway, electronic invoices are spreading, and the -solution promoted -by the Norwegian government require that invoices are sent through -one of the approved facilitators, and it is not possible to send -electronic invoices without an agreement with one of these -facilitators. This seem like a needless limitation to be able to -transfer invoice information between buyers and sellers. My preferred -solution would be to just transfer the invoice information directly -between seller and buyer, for example using SMTP, or some HTTP based -protocol like REST or SOAP. But this might also be overkill, as the -"electronic" information can be transferred using paper invoices too, -using a simple bar code. My bar code encoding of choice would be QR -codes, as this encoding can be read by any smart phone out there. The -content of the code could be anything, but I would go with -the vCard format, as -it too is supported by a lot of computer equipment these days.

- -

The vCard format support extentions, and the invoice specific -information can be included using such extentions. For example an -invoice from SLX Debian Labs (picked because we -ask -for donations to the Debian Edu project and thus have bank account -information publicly available) for NOK 1000.00 could have these extra -fields:

Automatically locate and install required firmware packages on Debian (Isenkram 0.4)

25th June 2013

It annoys me when the computer fail to do automatically what it is +perfectly capable of, and I have to do it manually to get things +working. One such task is to find out what firmware packages are +needed to get the hardware on my computer working. Most often this +affect the wifi card, but some times it even affect the RAID +controller or the ethernet card. Today I pushed version 0.4 of the +Isenkram package +including a new script isenkram-autoinstall-firmware handling the +process of asking all the loaded kernel modules what firmware files +they want, find debian packages providing these files and install the +debian packages. Here is a test run on my laptop:

-X-INVOICE-NUMBER:1
-X-INVOICE-AMOUNT:NOK1000.00
-X-INVOICE-KID:123412341234
-X-INVOICE-MSG:Donation to Debian Edu
-X-BANK-ACCOUNT-NUMBER:16040884339
-X-BANK-IBAN-NUMBER:NO8516040884339
-X-BANK-SWIFT-NUMBER:DNBANOKKXXX
+# isenkram-autoinstall-firmware 
+info: kernel drivers requested extra firmware: ipw2200-bss.fw ipw2200-ibss.fw ipw2200-sniffer.fw
+info: fetching http://http.debian.net/debian/dists/squeeze/Contents-i386.gz
+info: locating packages with the requested firmware files
+info: Updating APT sources after adding non-free APT source
+info: trying to install firmware-ipw2x00
+firmware-ipw2x00
+firmware-ipw2x00
+Preconfiguring packages ...
+Selecting previously deselected package firmware-ipw2x00.
+(Reading database ... 259727 files and directories currently installed.)
+Unpacking firmware-ipw2x00 (from .../firmware-ipw2x00_0.28+squeeze1_all.deb) ...
+Setting up firmware-ipw2x00 (0.28+squeeze1) ...
+#

The X-BANK-ACCOUNT-NUMBER field was proposed in a stackoverflow -answer regarding -how -to put bank account information into a vCard. For payments in -Norway, either X-INVOICE-KID (payment ID) or X-INVOICE-MSG could be -used to pass on information to the seller when paying the invoice.

- -

The complete vCard could look like this:

When all the requested firmware is present, a simple message is +printed instead:

-BEGIN:VCARD
-VERSION:2.1
-ORG:SLX Debian Labs Foundation
-ADR;WORK:;;Gunnar Schjelderups vei 29D;OSLO;;0485;Norway
-URL;WORK:http://www.linuxiskolen.no/slxdebianlabs/
-EMAIL;PREF;INTERNET:sdl-styret@rt.nuug.no
-REV:20130212T095000Z
-X-INVOICE-NUMBER:1
-X-INVOICE-AMOUNT:NOK1000.00
-X-INVOICE-MSG:Donation to Debian Edu
-X-BANK-ACCOUNT-NUMBER:16040884339
-X-BANK-IBAN-NUMBER:NO8516040884339
-X-BANK-SWIFT-NUMBER:DNBANOKKXXX
-END:VCARD
+# isenkram-autoinstall-firmware 
+info: did not find any firmware files requested by loaded kernel modules.  exiting
+#

The resulting QR code created using -qrencode would look -like this, and should be readable (and thus checkable) by any smart -phone, or for example the zbar -bar code reader and feed right into the approval and accounting -system.

- -

The extension fields will most likely not show up in any normal -vCard reader, so those parts would have to go directly into a system -handling invoices. I am a bit unsure how vCards without name parts -are handled, but a simple test indicate that this work just fine.

- -

Update 2013-02-12 11:30: Added KID to the proposal -based on feedback from Sturle Sunde.

It could use some polish, but it is already working well and saving +me some time when setting up new machines. :)

+ +

So, how does it work? It look at the set of currently loaded +kernel modules, and look up each one of them using modinfo, to find +the firmware files listed in the module meta-information. Next, it +download the Contents file from a nearby APT mirror, and search for +the firmware files in this file to locate the package with the +requested firmware file. If the package is in the non-free section, a +non-free APT source is added and the package is installed using +apt-get install. The end result is a slightly better working +machine.

+ +

I hope someone find time to implement a more polished version of +this script as part of the hw-detect debian-installer module, to +finally fix BTS report +#655507. There really is no need to insert USB sticks with +firmware during a PXE install when the packages already are available +from the nearby Debian mirror.

+ + + Tags: debian, english, isenkram. + + +

+ +

The value of a good distro wide test suite...

22nd June 2013

In the Debian Edu / +Skolelinux project, we include a post-installation test suite, +which check that services are running, working, and return the +expected results. It runs automatically just after the first boot on +test installations (using test ISOs), but not on production +installations (using non-test ISOs). It test that the LDAP service is +operating, Kerberos is responding, DNS is replying, file systems are +online resizable, etc, etc. And it check that the PXE service is +configured, which is the topic of this post.

+ +

The last week I've fixed the DVD and USB stick ISOs for our Debian +Edu Wheezy release. These ISOs are supposed to be able to install a +complete system without any Internet connection, but for that to +happen all the needed packages need to be on them. Thanks to our test +suite, I discovered that we had forgotten to adjust our PXE setup to +cope with the new names and paths used by the netboot d-i packages. +When Internet connectivity was available, the installer fall back to +using wget to fetch d-i boot images, but when offline it require +working packages to get it working. And ad the packages changed name +from debian-installer-6.0-netboot-$arch to +debian-installer-7.0-netboot-$arch, we no longer pulled in the +packages during installation. Without our test suite, I suspect we +would never have discovered this before release. Now it is fixed +right after we got the ISOs operational.

+ +

Another by-product of the test suite is that we can ask system +administrators with problems getting Debian Edu to work, to run the +test suite using /usr/sbin/debian-edu-test-install and see if +any errors are detected. This usually pinpoint the subsystem causing +the problem.

+ +

If you want to help us help kids learn how to share and create, +please join us on +#debian-edu on +irc.debian.org and the +debian-edu@ mailing +list.

- Tags: english, standard. + Tags: debian edu, english.

@@ -637,99 +573,143 @@ based on feedback from Sturle Sunde.

Litt statistikk over offentlige anbud annonsert via Doffin siden 2008

11th February 2013

For et halvt Ã¥r siden -satte -jeg opp et system for Ã¥ lage en database med informasjon om -offentlige anbud fra Doffin ved -hjelp av -Scraperwiki. NÃ¥ er databasen sÃ¥ vidt jeg kan se komplett, med -data helt tilbake til 2008. Her er litt statistikk over -antall -anbud publisert hver mÃ¥ned:

- -

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
PubliseringsmÃ¥ned Antall
2013-01 1015
2012-12 756
2012-11 979
2012-10 1093
2012-09 1023
2012-08 951
2012-07 1103
2012-06 1334
2012-05 1435
2012-04 1169
2012-03 1573
2012-02 1335
2012-01 1147
2011-12 1045
2011-11 1114
2011-10 1230
2011-09 1165
2011-08 966
2011-07 1148
2011-06 1410
2011-05 1536
2011-04 1350
2011-03 1574
2011-02 1370
2011-01 1049
2010-12 992
2010-11 1089
2010-10 1110
2010-09 1132
2010-08 883
2010-07 1126
2010-06 1440
2010-05 1236
2010-04 1249
2010-03 1556
2010-02 1256
2010-01 1140
2009-12 1013
2009-11 1220
2009-10 1320
2009-09 1294
2009-08 953
2009-07 1162
2009-06 1605
2009-05 1568
2009-04 1522
2009-03 1599
2009-02 1376
2009-01 1080
2008-12 1028
2008-11 949
2008-10 1047
2008-09 965
2008-08 725
2008-07 1015
2008-06 1304
2008-05 323

PubliseringsmÃ¥ned	Antall
2013-01	1015
2012-12	756
2012-11	979
2012-10	1093
2012-09	1023
2012-08	951
2012-07	1103
2012-06	1334
2012-05	1435
2012-04	1169
2012-03	1573
2012-02	1335
2012-01	1147
2011-12	1045
2011-11	1114
2011-10	1230
2011-09	1165
2011-08	966
2011-07	1148
2011-06	1410
2011-05	1536
2011-04	1350
2011-03	1574
2011-02	1370
2011-01	1049
2010-12	992
2010-11	1089
2010-10	1110
2010-09	1132
2010-08	883
2010-07	1126
2010-06	1440
2010-05	1236
2010-04	1249
2010-03	1556
2010-02	1256
2010-01	1140
2009-12	1013
2009-11	1220
2009-10	1320
2009-09	1294
2009-08	953
2009-07	1162
2009-06	1605
2009-05	1568
2009-04	1522
2009-03	1599
2009-02	1376
2009-01	1080
2008-12	1028
2008-11	949
2008-10	1047
2008-09	965
2008-08	725
2008-07	1015
2008-06	1304
2008-05	323

- -

Her er tilsvarende -tall -per Ã¥r, som viser en liten nedgang i antall anbud:

- - - - - - - - -

PubliseringsÃ¥r	Antall
2012	13898
2011	14957
2010	14209
2009	15712
2008	7356

- -

Jeg droppet den ufullstendige mÃ¥neden og Ã¥ret fra tabellen. Se -lenken for oppdaterte tall.

Debian Edu interview: Victor NiÈu

17th June 2013

The Debian Edu and +Skolelinux distribution have users and contributors all around the +globe. And a while back, an enterprising young man showed up on +our IRC channel +#debian-edu and started asking questions about how Debian Edu +worked. We answered as good as we could, and even convinced him to +help us with translations. And today I managed to get an interview +with him, to learn more about him.

+ +

Who are you, and how do you spend your days?

+ +

I'm a 25 year old free software enthusiast, living in Romania, +which is also my country of origin. Back in 2009, at a New Year's Eve +party, I had a very nice ~~beer~~ discussion with a +friend, when we realized we have no organised Debian community in our +country. A few days later, we put together the infrastructure for such +community and even gathered a nice Debian-ish crowd. Since then, I +began my quest as a free software hacker and activist and I am +constantly trying to cover as much ground as possible on that +field.

+ +

A few years ago I founded a small web development company, which +provided me the flexible schedule I needed so much for my +activities. For the last 13 months, I have been the Technical Director +of FundaÈia Ceata, which is a free +software activist organisation endorsed by the FSF and the FSFE, and +the only one we have in our country.

+ +

How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu +project?

+ +

The idea of participating in the Debian Edu project was a surprise +even to me, since I never used it before I began getting involved in +it. This year I had a great opportunity to deliver a talk on +educational software, and I knew immediately where to look. It was a +love at first sight, since I was previously involved with some of the +technologies the project incorporates, and I rapidly found a lot of +ways to contribute.

+ +

My first contributions consisted in translating the installer and +configuration dialogs, then I found some bugs to squash (I still +haven't fixed them yet though), and I even got my eyes on some other +areas where I can prove myself helpful. Since the appetite for free +software in my country is pretty low, I'll be happy to be the first +one around here advocating for the project's adoption in educational +environments, and maybe even get my hands dirty in creating a flavour +for our own needs. I am not used to make very advanced plannings, so +from now on, time will tell what I'll be doing next, but I think I +have a pretty consistent starting point.

+ +

What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian +Edu?

+ +

Not a long time ago, I was in the position of configuring and +maintaining a LDAP server on some Debian derivative, and I must say it +took me a while. A long time ago, I was maintaining a bigger +Samba-powered infrastructure, and I must say I spent quite a lot of +time on it. I have similar stories about many of the services included +with Skolelinux, and the main advantage I see about it is the +out-of-the box availability of them, making it quite competitive when +it comes to managing a school's network, for example.

+ +

Of course, there is more to say about Skolelinux than the +availability of the software included, its flexibility in various +scenarios is something I can't wait to experiment "into the wild" (I +only played with virtual machines so far). And I am sure there is a +lot more I haven't discovered yet about it, being so new within the +project.

+ +

What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux / Debian +Edu?

+ +

As usual, when it comes to Debian Blends, I see as the biggest +disadvantage the lack of a numerous team dedicated to the +project. Every day I see the same names in the changelogs, and I have +a constantly fear of the bus factor in this story. I'd like to see +Debian Edu advertised more as an entry point into the Debian +ecosystem, especially amongst newcomers and students. IMHO there are a +lot low-hanging fruits in terms of bug squashing, and enough +opportunities to get the feeling of the Debian Project's dynamics. Not +to mention it's a very fun blend to work on!

+ +

Derived from the previous statement, is the delay in catching up +with the main Debian release and documentation. This is common though +to all blends and derivatives, but it's an issue we can all work +on.

+ +

Which free software do you use daily?

+ +

I can hardly imagine myself spending a day without Vim, since my +daily routine covers writing code and hacking configuration files. I +am a fan of the Awesome window manager (but I also like the +Enlightenment project a lot!), +Claws Mail due to its ease of +use and very configurable behaviour. Recently I fell in love with +Redshift, which helps me +get through the night without headaches. Of course, there is much more +stuff in this bag, but I'll need a blog on my own for doing this!

+ +

Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to +get schools to use free software?

+ +

Well, on this field, I cannot do much more than experiment right +now. So, being far from having a recipe for success, I can only assume +that:

+ +

schools would like to get rid of proprietary software
students will love the openness of the system, and will want to + experiment with it - maybe we need to harvest the native curiosity + of teenagers more?
there is no "right one" when it comes to strategies, but it would + be useful to have some success stories published somewhere, so + other can get some inspiration from them (I know I'd promote + them!)
more active promotion - talks, conferences, even small school + lectures can do magical things if they encounter at least one + person interested. Who knows who that person might be? ;-)

+ +

I also see some problems in getting Skolelinux into schools; for +example, in our country we have a great deal of corruption issues, so +it might be hard(er) to fight against proprietary solutions. Also, +people who relied on commercial software for all their lives, would be +very hard to convert against their will.

- Tags: norsk, nuug, offentlig innsyn. + Tags: debian edu, english, intervju.

@@ -737,65 +717,131 @@ lenken for oppdaterte tall.

Sleep until morning - home automation for the kids

10th February 2013

- -

With kids in the house, one challenge is getting them to sleep -during the night and wake up when it is morning. I mean, when I -believe it is morning, and not two hours earlier. In our household we -have decided that 07:00 is the turning point, but getting the kids to -sleep until 07:00 is a small challenge every day. They have adapted -quite well, and rarely wake up at 05:00 any more, but some times wake -up at times like 05:50, 06:15, 06:30 or 06:45, and it is hard to put -the awake one to bed again without disturbing and waking the rest. -And I understand perfectly well that they fail to sleep until 07:00 -some times, as there is no way for them to know if it is before or -after the magic moment without coming and asking us parents.

- -

But yesterday I came up with a method to solve this problem. It -involve home automation. A few years ago I bought a -Tellstick and RF -switches at the local Clas -Ohlson shop, allowing me to control lights and other electrical -gadgets using my Linux server. When I moved from the old flat to a -small house, I put away all this equipment as most of the lighting in -the house was not using wall sockets and thus not easy to connect to -the gadgets I had. But recently I bought a -Tellstick -Net to be able to read sensor input as well as control power -sockets. I want to control ovens in the basement to avoid the pipes -to freeze, and monitor the humidity to detect flooding. The default -setup for Tellstick Net is to be controlled by the vendor web service, -which to me is a security problem, but it is also possible to build -ones own -firmware -with local access instead of being controlled by a Swedish -company, thanks to the release of the GPL licensed firmware source -code. I plan to get that running before I let it control anything -important. But while working on this, one idea to make it easier for -the kids came to me yesterday. We can set up a night light controlled -by the computer, and turn it automatically on at 07:00. The kids can -then check the light in the morning to know if they are supposed to -get up or not. They joined me in setting everything up, and I -repeated the concept several times before bed times to make sure they -remembered to check the light before getting up in the morning.

- -

We tested it this morning, and all the kids stayed in bed until -after 07:00, and every one of them commented on the fact that the -"morning light" was turned on and signalled that the morning had -arrived. So this look like a success, and I am excited to see how -this develops the next few days. :) I really hope this can allow us -all to sleep a bit longer in the morning.

- -

A nice advantage of this setup is that we can remote control when -to tell the kids to get up. We do not have to wait until 07:00, and -can also delay it if we want to.

Debian Edu interview: Jonathan Carter

12th June 2013

There is a certain cross-over between the +Debian Edu / Skolelinux +project and the Edubuntu +project, and for example the LTSP packages in Debian are a joint +effort between the projects. One person with a foot in both camps is +Jonathan Carter, which I am now happy to present to you.

+ +

Who are you, and how do you spend your days?

+ +

I'm a South-African free software geek who lives in Cape Town. My +days vary quite a bit since I'm involved in too many things. As I'm +getting older I'm learning how to focus a bit more :)

+ +

I'm also an Edubuntu contributor and I love when there are +opportunities for the Edubuntu and Debian Edu projects to benefit from +each other.

+ +

How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu +project?

+ +

I've been somewhat familiar with the project before, but I think my +first direct exposure to the project was when I met Petter +[Reinholdtsen] and Knut [Yrvin] at the Edubuntu summit in 2005 in +London. They provided great feedback that helped the bootstrapping of +Edubuntu. Back then Edubuntu (and even Ubuntu) was still very new and +it was great getting input from people who have been around longer. I +was also still very excitable and said yes to everything and to this +day I have a big todo list backlog that I'm catching up with. I think +over the years the relationship between Edubuntu and Debian-Edu has +been gradually improving, although I think there's a lot that we could +still improve on in terms of working together on packages. I'm sure +we'll get there one day.

+ +

What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux / Debian +Edu?

+ +

Debian itself already has so many advantages. I could go on about +it for pages, but in essence I love that it's a very honest project +that puts its users first with no hidden agendas and also produces +very high quality work.

+ +

I think the advantage of Debian Edu is that it makes many common +set-up tasks simpler so that administrators can get up and running +with a lot less effort and frustration. At the same time I think it +helps to standardise installations in schools so that it's easier for +community members and commercial suppliers to support.

+ +

What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux / Debian +Edu?

+ +

I had to re-type this one a few times because I'm trying to +separate "disadvantages" from "areas that need improvement" (which is +what I originally rambled on about)

+ +

The biggest disadvantage I can think of is lack of manpower. The +project could do so much more if there were more good contributors. I +think some of the problems are external too. Free software and free +content in education is a no-brainer but it takes some time to catch +on. When you've been working with the same proprietary eco-system for +years and have gotten used to it, it can be hard to adjust to some +concepts in the free software world. It would be nice if there were +more Debian Edu consultants across the world. I'd love to be one +myself but I'm already so over-committed that it's just not possible +currently.

+ +

I think the best short-term solution to that large-scale problem is +for schools to be pro-active and share their experiences and grow +their skills in-house. I'm often saddened to see how much money +educational institutions spend on 3rd party solutions that they don't +have access to after the service has ended and they could've gotten so +much more value otherwise by being more self-sustainable and +autonomous.

+ +

Which free software do you use daily?

+ +

My main laptop dual-boots between Debian and Windows 7. I was +Windows free for years but started dual-booting again last year for +some games which help me focus and relax (Starcraft II in +particular). Gaming support on Linux is improving in leaps and bounds +so I suppose I'll soon be able to regain that disk space :)

+ +

Besides that I rely on Icedove, Chromium, Terminator, Byobu, irssi, +git, Tomboy, KVM, VLC and LibreOffice. Recently I've been torn on +which desktop environment I like and I'm taking some refuge in Xfce +while I figure that out. I like tools that keep things simple. I enjoy +Python and shell scripting. I went to an Arduino workshop recently and +it was awesome seeing how easy and simple the IDE software was to get +up and running in Debian compared to the users running Windows and OS +X.

+ +

I also use mc which some people frown upon slightly. I got used to +using Norton Commander in the early 90's and it stuck (I think the +people who sneer at it is just jealous that they don't know how to use +it :p) + +

Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to +get schools to use free software?

+ +

I think trying to force it is unproductive. I also think that in +many cases it's appropriate for schools to use non-free systems and I +don't think that there's any particular moral or ethical problem with +that.

+ +

I do think though that free software can already solve so so many +problems in educational institutions and it's just a shame not taking +advantage of that.

+ +

I also think that some curricula need serious review. For example, +some areas of the world rely heavily on very specific versions of MS +Office, teaching students to parrot menu items instead of learning the +general concepts. I think that's very unproductive because firstly, MS +Office's interface changes drastically every few years and on top of +that it also locks in a generation to a product that might not be the +best solution for them.

+ +

To answer your question, I believe that the right strategy is to +educate and inform, giving someone the information they require to +make a decision that would work for them.

- Tags: english. + Tags: debian edu, english, intervju.

@@ -817,7 +863,15 @@ can also delay it if we want to.

+ +

+ +

+ +

+ +